Author Notes:I absolutely love goat cheese, and I really love homemade caesar - especially when it is not doused with dressing. This salad is inspired by a dish that I had at Michel Richard's Central restaurant in D.C. When I saw caesar salad AND goat cheese on the menu, I knew it was something I had to try. This is my "home" version of a goat cheese caesar salad adding roasted tomatoes for color and flavor. I hope you enjoy! - brooke's kitchen —Plum Pie

Food52 Review: This is the kind of recipe that has the veneer of a restaurant recipe, but the soul of one by a home cook. It has complexity -- a bed of seasoned goat cheese beneath the salad, a sprinkling of blistered cherry tomatoes, and a cap made of a baked parmesan crisp -- but each part is easy and can be made ahead of time. So don't sweat it. Put this on the menu for your next dinner party. One note: we didn't break up the romaine leaves -- instead, we used just the tender inner leaves and dressed them whole so we could stack them up, Suzanne Goin style. - A&M —The Editors

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Serves 2 or more

Caesar Dressing

1/3
cup buttermilk

2
tablespoons good quality mayonnaise

1
garlic clove, grated

1.5
tablespoons lemon juice

1/2
teaspoon anchovy paste

2
teaspoons dijon mustard

salt and pepper to taste

Salad

3/4
cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated

10
cherry tomatoes

1/2
tablespoon olive oil

1
teaspoon balsamic vinegar

2
heads of romaine lettuce (or how ever many you are serving)

4
ounces good goat cheese

1
garlic clove, grated

1
teaspoon dried oregano

1
tablespoon heavy cream

Mix all of dressing ingredients together. Add salt and pepper to taste. Place in refrigerator until ready to use.

Take goat cheese out of refrigerator to soften. Grate garlic and mix with oregano and cream. Mix softened goat cheese with herb cream mixture and set aside.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Toss cherry tomatoes with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper. Roast in oven for about 20 minutes or until tomatoes burst and brown in a few spots. Take out of oven and set aside.

Clean romaine lettuce and trim. Place between damp paper towels and place in refrigerator until ready to use.

Pipe a portion of goat cheese mousse on bottom of one salad plate (depending on how much goat cheese you like). I use a ziploc bag with the corner cut off to make a pretty design or you can always spoon on the bottom. Repeat with remaining salad plates.

Toss romaine very lightly with dressing (be very sparse as I always put a little dressing on top of finished salad). Divide lettuce between salad plates.

Divide roasted tomatoes on top of salad. Drizzle about a tablespoon of dressing on lettuce and sprinkle with parmesan. Add parmesan crisp and serve.

Made this for a dinner party and couldn't have been more pleased, not only with how it turned out but with the advance prep I was able to do. The dressing was fabulous and the tomatoes were a beautiful, bright pop of color and acidity. I used homemade, torn-bread croutons instead of the parmesan frico but will make those in advance next time, too, and just store 'em in tupperware until ready to use. This was a simple but impressive dinner party salad that's so easy it can be a weeknight salad, too. Will happily make it again.

I tried this yesterday and it did not disappoint. My goat cheese had gone bad (rrr) so I subbed cottage cheese and creme fraiche for the goat cheese and heavy cream. It turned out great and may be an option for folks who don't like goat cheese. All the components are so nice together - I loved the tomatoes and the crisps. Congratulations on your win!

This was a big departure from my normal Caesar salad recipe, but a big hit. I normally make The Silver Palettes Garlic and Anchovy Dressing and serve with reconstituted sun dried tomatoes and either blackened shrimp or chix. This was a really nice alternative however. Hubby loved it. The roasted cherry tomatoes are like candy and add the sweet that I like. I didn't have anchovy paste, but used 1 whole anchovy instead and pulsed all the ingredients in the Cuisinart instead. Wonderful!

Absolutely love this; I often make parmesan crisps (I call them Cheesy Snowflakes, long story) and roast tomatoes, goat cheese is a fav and your no-egg dressing is just the way I like it…A “Perfect Match” for my dinner table!